Electronic devices use radio-frequency (RF) signals to communicate information. These radio-frequency signals enable users to talk with friends, download information, share pictures, remotely control household devices, receive global positioning information, employ radar for object detection and tracking, or listen to radio stations. As a distance over which these radio-frequency signals travel increases, a strength of the radio-frequency signals decreases, and it becomes increasingly challenging to distinguish the radio-frequency signals from background noise. To address this issue, electronic devices use variable gain amplifiers to amplify signals that are transmitted or received. Performance of a variable gain amplifier depends on several factors, including power consumption, gain, noise figure, or linearity. Power consumption is particularly relevant to battery-powered mobile devices. It may be challenging, however, to realize power savings without adversely impacting other performance parameters.